This chronicle of ten controversial mid-Victorian trials features brother versus brother, aristocrats fighting commoners, an imposter to a family's fortune, and an ex-priest suing his ex-wife, a nun. Most of these trials-never before analyzed in depth-assailed a culture that frowned upon public displays of bad taste, revealing fault lines in what is traditionally seen as a moral and regimented society. The author examines religious scandals, embarrassments about shaky family trees, and even arguments about which architecture is most likely to convert people from one faith to another.

The revised and expanded edition of Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff offers 350 titles compared to the original edition's 150. The new book is global in scope, with examples of labor films from around the world. Viewers can turn to this comprehensive, annotated guide for films about unions or labor organizations; labor history; working-class life where an economic factor is significant; political movements if they are tied closely to organized labor; production or the struggle between labor and capital from a "top-down" either entrepreneurial or managerial perspective. Each entry includes a critical commentary, production data, cast list, MPAA rating (if any), suggested related films, annotated references to books and websites for further reading, and information about availability of films for rental and/or purchase. This edition addresses both historical and contemporary films and features many more documentaries and hard-to-find information about agitprop and union-financed films.Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor features fifty-eight production stills and frame enlargements. It also includes a greatly expanded Thematic Index of Films. Two new sections will help the reader discover labor films in chronological order or by nationality or affiliation with certain cinematic movements. To read Tom Zaniello's blog on the cinema of labor and globalization, featuring even more reviews, visit http: //tzaniello.wordpress.com.Praise for the earlier edition "Zaniello has created a useful and far-reaching guide with abundant information. . . . These are the sorts of films that prove what James Agee wrote in these pages nearly fifty years ago: 'The only movies whose temper could possibly be described as heroic, or tragic, or both, have been made by leftists.'" The Nation"Zaniello has done a monumental job identifying the films that should be included in this genre. . . . Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff is sorely needed and long overdue." Cineaste"An engaging and opinionated book. . . . Even though mining, trucking, Jimmy Hoffa, and class warfare are the book's major themes, what holds the project together is Zaniello's sense of fun and wit. Zaniello is] a better writer than most major film critics." Village Voice Literary Supplement"

Tom Zaniello's fascinating new guide to films about globalization its origins, its relationship with colonialism, neocolonialism, the growth of migratory labor, and movements to counter or protest its adverse effects offers readers and viewers the opportunity to both discover new films and see well-known works in a new way. From Afro@Digital to Zoolander, Zaniello discusses 201 films, including features such as The Constant Gardener, Dirty Pretty Things, and Syriana; documentaries and other nonfiction films such as Blue Vinyl, Darwin's Nightmare, and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price; online films; and television productions. Zaniello casts a wide net to provide cinematic representations of globalization from all angles: -films about global labor and labor unions affected by globalization;-films about global capital and multinational corporations;-films about the transnational organizations (WB, IMF, WTO) most closely identified with globalization and global capital;-films about labor history and the daily life of working-class people as they relate to the development of globalization;-films about the environment directly related to changes in labor or capital; and-films about changes in both the workplace and the corporate office in the era of multinational corporations. Each entry in The Cinema of Globalization offers a summary of the main issues in the film and their relationship to globalization, sometimes a reference to the film's place in a director's work or tradition of cinema, and an often-opinionated assessment of the film's strengths and weaknesses. Like the best film guides, this book is an addictive reading experience full of ideas for future viewing. At the same time, it serves as an inviting and accessible introduction to a difficult topic the central themes and aspects of globalization.To read Tom Zaniello's blog on the cinema of labor and globalization, featuring even more reviews, visit http: //tzaniello.wordpress.com."

Tom Zaniello's fascinating new guide to films about globalization its origins, its relationship with colonialism, neocolonialism, the growth of migratory labor, and movements to counter or protest its adverse effects offers readers and viewers the opportunity to both discover new films and see well-known works in a new way. From Afro@Digital to Zoolander, Zaniello discusses 201 films, including features such as The Constant Gardener, Dirty Pretty Things, and Syriana; documentaries and other nonfiction films such as Blue Vinyl, Darwin's Nightmare, and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price; online films; and television productions. Zaniello casts a wide net to provide cinematic representations of globalization from all angles: -films about global labor and labor unions affected by globalization;-films about global capital and multinational corporations;-films about the transnational organizations (WB, IMF, WTO) most closely identified with globalization and global capital;-films about labor history and the daily life of working-class people as they relate to the development of globalization;-films about the environment directly related to changes in labor or capital; and-films about changes in both the workplace and the corporate office in the era of multinational corporations. Each entry in The Cinema of Globalization offers a summary of the main issues in the film and their relationship to globalization, sometimes a reference to the film's place in a director's work or tradition of cinema, and an often-opinionated assessment of the film's strengths and weaknesses. Like the best film guides, this book is an addictive reading experience full of ideas for future viewing. At the same time, it serves as an inviting and accessible introduction to a difficult topic the central themes and aspects of globalization.To read Tom Zaniello's blog on the cinema of labor and globalization, featuring even more reviews, visit http: //tzaniello.wordpress.com."

The revised and expanded edition of Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff offers 350 titles compared to the original edition's 150. The new book is global in scope, with examples of labor films from around the world. Viewers can turn to this comprehensive, annotated guide for films about unions or labor organizations; labor history; working-class life where an economic factor is significant; political movements if they are tied closely to organized labor; production or the struggle between labor and capital from a "top-down" either entrepreneurial or managerial perspective. Each entry includes a critical commentary, production data, cast list, MPAA rating (if any), suggested related films, annotated references to books and websites for further reading, and information about availability of films for rental and/or purchase. This edition addresses both historical and contemporary films and features many more documentaries and hard-to-find information about agitprop and union-financed films.Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films about Labor features fifty-eight production stills and frame enlargements. It also includes a greatly expanded Thematic Index of Films. Two new sections will help the reader discover labor films in chronological order or by nationality or affiliation with certain cinematic movements. To read Tom Zaniello's blog on the cinema of labor and globalization, featuring even more reviews, visit http: //tzaniello.wordpress.com.Praise for the earlier edition "Zaniello has created a useful and far-reaching guide with abundant information. . . . These are the sorts of films that prove what James Agee wrote in these pages nearly fifty years ago: 'The only movies whose temper could possibly be described as heroic, or tragic, or both, have been made by leftists.'" The Nation"Zaniello has done a monumental job identifying the films that should be included in this genre. . . . Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and Riffraff is sorely needed and long overdue." Cineaste"An engaging and opinionated book. . . . Even though mining, trucking, Jimmy Hoffa, and class warfare are the book's major themes, what holds the project together is Zaniello's sense of fun and wit. Zaniello is] a better writer than most major film critics." Village Voice Literary Supplement"